Posts from ‘April, 2010’

We've been having some bird activity around here this week. A couple of house wrens have been building a nest in our birdhouse. We read that they sing the most when they are nesting and we enjoy hearing them sing first thing in the morning and throughout the day.

Here's a picture of a house wren:

We have also had a very distinguished bird visitor at our feeder for the last several days; a Rose Breasted Grosbeak. He is very beautiful and we have really enjoyed seeing him.

Here's a picture of a Rose Breasted Grosbeak:

Last week when I stopped by Walgreens to pick up a few things I found that they had the Easter Peeps on sale for 18 cents a box. I bought a few boxes and used them to make this sunflower cake:

Melt the margarine and then stir in the cocoa. Pour into a mixing bowl. Add the powdered sugar alternately with the milk and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Frost cake immediately as this hardens as the butter cools. This is enough for a layer cake or two dozen cupcakes.

Do you own a bread machine? If the answer is yes, do you use yours? I kind of go through fits and spurts. My bread machine is a vertical one (the bread rises upwards), so I tend to use it for making the dough and then baking it in the oven. I do have a couple of recipes that I make in the bread machine that turn out really well. This is one of them.

I ran across this recipe a couple of years ago, and it has become a family favorite. I don't make these very often since they are quite rich, but if you want a really good cinnamon roll try this recipe.

I pretty much follow the recipe the way it is listed on All Recipes except that I do not use bread machine yeast--I just use the rapid rise yeast and sometimes I make them a bit smaller than the recipe directs. I made some of these this week for my friend Kathy's birthday and took some pictures to document the process. I made the dough in the evening, covered it with plastic wrap, and then baked and frosted them in the morning.

Here is the dough rolled out and spread with the butter and brown sugar/cinnamon mixture:

Have you ever heard of saucepan brownies? I had never heard the term before I read it in a little booklet many years ago, although I had made brownies using this method before I knew of the term. They are sometimes also called one bowl brownies. The idea is that you melt the butter or margarine in a saucepan (or in the microwave) and then combine with the other ingredients. I have found that brownies or bars prepared by this method are usually very moist, dense, and chewy rather than cake-like.

These Congo Bars are an example of saucepan brownies. I was given this recipe by a student many years ago and we have enjoyed Congo Bars ever since. They are very rich and delicious, so cut them small and plan on sharing a plate of them with friends.

Melt butter or margarine. Add brown sugar and slightly beaten eggs. In a mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to first mixture and stir to blend and then stir in the chocolate chips. Spread in a 9" x 13" pan that has been greased and floured. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 mins. or until the bars test clean. Cool and cut into bars.

Here are the ingredients:

Here's everything mixed together:

Here they are ready to pop into the oven:

Since I was planning to give most of these bars away I lined the pan with non-stick foil instead of greasing and flouring it so I could remove the bars from the pan to make them easier to cut.

DH was at a conference at church Friday night and nearly all day and evening on Saturday, so I puttered around the house. Here are a few things I worked on:

I made another batch of granola. This time I tried a tropical blend with chopped dried pineapple, coconut, banana chips, and chopped cashews. I didn't know if we would like this combination, but we've found it to be quite tasty.

I worked on quilting another baby quilt. This one is made from a remnant of Thomas the train fabric and an old curtain from DS Mark's bedroom. I just need to add the borders and it will be finished. I adapted an idea from this book:

I had read about the book on a sewing blog and checked it out of the library. It was still in print and DH got it for me for Valentine's Day. All the quilts are simple without a lot of fussy piecing and are planned to go together quickly and easily.

I made a Ham Loaf for our Sunday dinner using some of the leftover Easter ham that I had ground up and frozen. My Aunt Nana used to make Ham Loaf and it had been years since I had eaten any. I made the loaf on Saturday and cooked it in the Crock Pot on Sunday.

DH got up at 5:30 AM to turn it on. 🙂 It was perfectly cooked by lunch time. I had read this tip about putting the strips of foil in the crock pot in one of those little Pillsbury cookbooklets.

Mix all ingredients well and form into a loaf. Top with some of the sauce. Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours or in crock pot for about 7 hours on low. (I added another portion of the sauce about 1/2 hour before the cooking time was up.)

I served the Ham Loaf with these green beans, which are also very tasty:
(note, I hadn't added the bacon in at this point.)

Cook bacon until crisp. Drain and crumble. Set aside. Sauté onions until slightly browned. Add beans, broth, and pepper. Cook until beans are tender, about 10-15 mins. Add tomatoes and cook briefly. Add bacon and serve. These are very tasty and attractive.

I recently read a couple of recipes for granola that inspired me to make some. I did a Google search and came up with some recipes by Pam Anderson, who often has recipes in the Sunday magazine section of the newspaper. Her recipe seemed to have less oil and sugar than a lot of the ones I found. I have also tried making it with the Splenda brown sugar and found it works just fine.

She gives a basic formula for the granola and then has ideas for quite a few variations. I have a good variety of dried fruits and nuts on hand right now and have been having fun trying a few different combinations.

One thing about this recipe which makes it extra good is that she tells you to pour the liquids over the dry ingredients in the baking pan and then squeeze the mixture with your hands to form clumps. As the granola bakes these clumps form little crunchy clusters which are delicious!

I was talking about this recipe with my friend Sandy and she suggested lining the baking pans with parchment paper to make the clean up even easier.

Here is one of our favorite varieties with dried cranberries and sliced almonds:

So, if you like granola give this recipe a try and create your own favorite combination.